Industry News

Former Wisconsin bookseller (and database software manager of the San Francisco Giants) Nick Glass has introduced a free Web site, TeachingBooks.net, useful for anyone involved with children's books. The comprehensive site offers useful links for all booksellers -- original multimedia information about authors, tour schedules, reading guides, and more arcane bits.

As part of its extensive educational programming at BookExpo America (BEA), ABA is sponsoring a three-day booksellers school, facilitated by Donna Paz and Mark Kaufman of Paz & Associates. The school program is designed to enhance the skills of anyone thinking about opening or buying a bookstore, as well as those of booksellers who are new to the business or who are new to, or aspiring to, management and leadership roles, and industry professionals who want a better understanding of book retailing.

Four advocacy groups' Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the government over how it is using the widespread surveillance powers it has been granted under the USA Patriot Act continues.

Support for H.R. 1157, the Freedom to Read Protection Act, continues to grow. In the last week, seven more members of Congress became co-sponsors of the bill, which would remove a threat created by the USA Patriot Act to the privacy of bookstore and library records. They join Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and 58 other members of Congress.

Dear Booksellers,

As I have been traveling around the country over the last few weeks to ABA Booksellers Forums and other events, it is clear that many of you are concerned about the rapid deterioration of business in the retail world generally and in your bookshops specifically. These are indeed challenging times for independent booksellers, as the continued softness of the national economy and international events have hit many of our members hard.

The ABA Board of Directors held its spring meeting in Chicago from March 28 - 30.

At the meeting, the Board:

Book Sense has established a marketing partnership with The Minute Maid division of The Coca-Cola Company to attract consumers participating in reading groups to independent bookstores with Book Sense. The new sweepstakes promotion for BACARDI® Mixers will run for four months starting in July. Bookstores participating in Book Sense must sign-up to participate in the program.

Following a significant increase in the submission of bookstore financial data to the ABACUS project, ABA has extended the deadline for bookstores to contribute data to the first year's study to April 30.

The impact of the war in Iraq is felt by communities everywhere in the country. In many towns, reservists have been called up, family life has been disrupted, and businesses are experiencing fluctuations in sales and traffic. Nowhere is the deployment of soldiers felt more profoundly than in the towns that include military bases and stations.

By Michael Katzenberg

The topic of customer privacy in the age of the USA Patriot Act -- a law that gives the FBI expanded powers to search bookstore and library records -- is a serious issue that concerns all independent booksellers, who fear the day when the FBI comes to demand information about customers' book purchases.

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) recently announced the names of the 130 finalists for the Eighth Annual Audie Awards. This year, the Audie Awards, which honor excellence in audio publishing, will be presented in 27 categories. A panel of over 150 judges representing all areas of the audiobook world selected the finalists. All titles submitted must have been released between November 1, 2002 and October 31, 2002. The awards will be presented on Friday evening, May 30, at the Petersen Car Museum in Los Angeles, in conjunction with BookExpo America.

On Wednesday, April 2, Book Sense launched its first weekly Extended Bestseller lists, posted on ABA's trade Web site, www.BookWeb.org. The Extended Bestseller lists show the top 16 - 50 bestselling books in the categories of hardcover fiction and nonfiction and trade paperback fiction and nonfiction, as reported by hundreds of independent bookstores across the country. The Extended Bestseller lists will be posted on Wednesday afternoons along with the regular Book Sense Bestseller lists.

The list of Citywide Book Clubs continues to grow. When Bookselling This Week first published a listing of book club initiatives in March 2002, it included 45 community-reading events. At present, the list -- BTW's fifth update -- numbers 131. Seven new book clubs have been added and information for four book clubs has been updated since the last list, published in January.

Author Toni Morrison

On March 25, BookExpo America announced that renowned author Toni Morrison would be a convention speaker at the BEA Book & Author Breakfast on Saturday, May 31.

The month of April always strikes an emotional chord. It's been taunted as the "cruellest month," flattered as the gentle lamb, and endured as that necessary soaker before the beautiful blooms of May can appear. Lyricists have extolled the romance of April in Paris. But Chaucer saw the sweet showers of April as a most propitious time to embark on a journey of discovery.